Earnings Preview: Soliris to drive Alexion’s Q4 topline

Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ALXN) is set to report fourth-quarter 2018 earnings results on Monday, February 4, before market open. Wall Street expects the company to report earnings of $1.82 per share, reflecting a growth of 25% on a year-over-year basis. Revenue is expected to grow 16% year-over-year to $1.06 billion.

The company’s key product lines Soliris, Strensiq and Kanuma can be expected to drive the topline growth in the fourth quarter. Soliris is likely to continue its momentum and once the product garners approval for more indications, it will help fuel sales growth.

During the quarter, Alexion received early FDA approval for ULTOMIRIS, a C5 complement inhibitor intended for the treatment of paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH), an ultra-rare blood disorder. Last month, the Phase 3 study of ULTOMIRIS met its primary objective of complete thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA) response. Alexion is preparing regulatory submissions for ULTOMIRIS in the US, EU and Japan.

On January 31, Alexion entered into a collaboration with Caelum Biosciences to develop CAEL–101 for light chain amyloidosis, a systemic disorder that leads to organ damage. In November, Alexion completed the acquisition of Syntimmune. These acquisitions and partnerships will help expand the company’s product portfolio and updates on these matters are worth watching.

THIRD QUARTER RECAP

In the third quarter, Alexion beat market expectations on both revenue and earnings. Revenues grew 20% to $1.03 billion while adjusted EPS grew 40% to $2.02.

For the full year of 2018, Alexion has guided for total revenue to come in a range of $4.02 billion to $4.05 billion and for adjusted EPS to be in the range of $7.45 to $7.60.

The majority of analysts are bullish on Alexion and have given it a rating of Buy. None have rated it as Sell. The stock has gained over 4% in the past 52 weeks.

Browse through our earnings calendar and get all scheduled earnings announcements, analyst/investor conference and much more!